Railway for travelers



VAlbairate-D STATES PATENT OFFICE.

i a OHN 0. HUGHES AND JAMES EYNON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAILWAY FOR TRAVELERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 235,536, dated December 14, 1880. Application filed October 30, 1880. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN O. HUGHES and J AMES EYNON, both citizens of the United States, and residents of the city and county of Philadelphia, and- State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement `in Railways for Travelers or Gonveyers for Loads, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specitication and accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective View of the trav- -eler or conveyer embodying our invention.

Fig. 2 is a top or plan view of a portion thereof. Fig. 3 is a side view, partly sectional, of Fig. 2. i

. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

-Our invention consists in so constructing the crossing-rails of the track or way for travelers or conveyers of loads that the traveler Niy-w---wfmoec'on-veyer of any rail may readily pass the opposed cross rail or rails without breaking the continuity of the latter longer than in the act of passing.

Referring to the drawings, A A' represent rails employed for the travelers, duc., by which loads are conveyed from one part of a mill,

i factory, warehouse, &c., to another, the same being located one above the other, and suspended from overhead, or supported on posts or columns, as usual, and extending angnlarly or `passing each other, so as to reach different parts of the building, 8vo., in which. the rails are placed. The rail A is above the rail A', and the sectionV or part A of the latter, just beneath the former, is pivoted or hinged so as to be opened in both directions. The pivotal or hinged end of the section A" has its axial pin a passed through a collar, b, connected to the adjacent fixed section of the rail A', and encircling said pin is a coiled spring, B, one end of which bears against the bottom of the collar b, and the other end against anut, c, on the lower part of said pin. The upper face of the collar b is inclined, so that when the section A" of the rail is moved or opened it rides up the incline and compresses the spring B, so that when the section is let go it returns under the action of the spring to its normal position, continuous of the fixed rails A', the base of the incline of the collar centering the section.

, The operation is as follows: A traveler, C, may be suspended from each rail A A', and carries the hook-crab, tongs, or other means by which the load or article is to be conveyed. When the traveler on the rail A is in operation'in either direction and. reaches the section A" it is pressed or presses against the latter, so that the section opens and permits the traveler to pass or run along the rail A, the rail A' presenting no obstacle thereto. As soon as the traveler has cleared the end of the section the latter quickly closes and the continuity of the rail A' is preserved, so that the traveler of said rail may be run along the same without danger of gaps or broken surfaces. The free end of the section is connected to the lower end of the stem or pin a by a brace, d, for sustaining and strengthening purposes.

Should an additional rail be employed and located below the rail A', it will be provided with an opening and closing section, similar to said rail A', for the passage of a traveler on the latter, and where another rail is employed and located above the rail A the latter will have an opening and closing section for the passage of the traveler on the additional upper rail, and this feature of an opening section may be employed in a multiplication of rails, or multiplied in each rail, as is evident.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, with the rail A, of the cross-rail A', having an opening and self-closing section, A", substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The rail A', with collar b, in combination with the opening section A", with stem a, and closing-spring B, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. The rail A', in combination with the sectionV A", having stem a, the spring B, and adjusting-nut c, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. The rail A', in combination with the section A", with stem a, and brace d, connecting 5 said section and stem, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. The crossing-rails of' a track or way for travelers or conveyers of loads havin g an opening and self-closing section or sections,

1o whereby, when the traveler or conveyer has passed said section the latter automatically closes, so that the cross-rail regains its continuity, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

JOHN O. HUGHES. JAMES EYNON.

Witnesses:

JOHN A. WIEDERSHEIM, A. 1. GRANT. 

